Global reliance on oil as a primary energy source has proven to be problematic. For the United States, with the price of oil increasing significantly in recent years and no indication of a trend reversal, the economic stability of the nation has come under intense scrutiny. One aspect of this scrutiny is on the current energy infrastructure and the need to find alternative sources of fuels.
While solar, wind and other technologies are being developed as alternative energy sources, the present automotive and aviation infrastructure currently requires liquid fuels. Accordingly, alternative ways to produce or improve liquid hydrocarbon-based fuels is highly desirable. Among the alternative fuel sources are biomass-derived liquid fuels. Biomass-derived liquid fuels are considered to be a sustainable and carbon-neutral source of liquid fuels and projections estimate that the United States has the potential to sustainably produce biomass sufficient to replace one-third or more of national petroleum consumption.
However, current methodologies only allow for the production of low energy density fuels. The low energy density of these fuels impacts the performance of vehicle and machinery powered by these fuels. What is needed are higher energy density fuels or methods of improving the energy density of currently produced biomass-derived liquid fuels.